Fear god Leberecht von Nordenflycht

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Fürchtegott (often also Timotheus, Thaddeus, Timoteo) Leberecht (Labaecht) Freiherr von Nordenflycht (* 1752 in Mitau ; † 1815 in Madrid ) was a German mining engineer . He headed a German mining commission that was supposed to reform the mining and metallurgical industry in Peru .

origin

Nordenflycht came from the second marriage of the chief mountain director Anders Nordenflycht (* May 25, 1710; † 1762) from Swedish nobility , who had emigrated to Kurland in 1740 , with Fredrika Juliana von Auerbach († 1760), a daughter of the Chancellor and Councilor Auerbach from Quedlinburg .

Life

From 1778 he studied at the Bergakademie Freiberg and then entered the Polish service, where he worked as a secret mountain ridge and smelter in Miedziana Góra in the Krakow voivodeship .

In 1786, on behalf of the Spanish Crown, Nordenflycht put together an expedition that consisted of 15 Saxon miners. The aim of this mining commission was to increase the productivity of the famous silver mines of Potosí , Cerro de Pasco and Huancavelica in Peru. The main focus was on the introduction of a new method of silver smelting using mercury amalgamation according to Ignaz von Born in the South American mines.

Nordenflycht ensured that the commission was provided with royal guarantees regarding the practice of religion, pension entitlements, expenses and material aid in Peru. Since he was also very careful about etiquette , he obtained permission to wear his Polish uniform and asked for the title of baron to be recognized in Spain and its colonies .

In October 1788, after a trip via Hamburg , La Coruña and Madrid , Nordenflycht arrived with the commission in Buenos Aires and then went on a two-month land trip to Potosí in what was then Upper Peru (Alto Peru), today's Bolivia . There he immediately began with the construction of steelworks and the measurement of the Cerro Rico .

On September 7, 1790, Nordenflycht and other members of the commission arrived in Lima , where he constructed various machines for analyzing ore samples and set up a mineralogical laboratory which was to serve as the nucleus for a later mountain school .

From Lima, Nordenflycht directed the reconstruction of the mines in Huancavelica . In Lima, Nordenflycht set up a “mineralogical laboratory”, from which the first mining school in Peru emerged, the Escuela de Mineralogía . Due to the high financial requirements and the resistance of the corrupt officials there, these ventures were hindered again and again. Because of the increasing number of failures, there was also tension with the authorities in Lima.

During his stay in Lima from October 23 to December 24, 1802, Nordenflycht met Alexander von Humboldt . He described him as "an educated and extraordinary character".

In the meantime, however, Nordenflycht's problems with the local authorities increased. This resulted in several legal disputes with Micaela Villegas , the notorious mistress of Viceroy Manuel de Amat y Juniet . In 1803, Nordenflycht was summoned to the Inquisition Court for reading “bad books” . However, he was able to refute these allegations and got away with impunity.

The activities of the German Mining Commission were finally declared ended by a royal decree on December 22, 1811. Due to the persistent opposition and the many obstacles on the ground in a country lacking basic prerequisites for advanced technical work, the Commission's original objectives have not been achieved.

Nordenflycht then returned to Europe and died in Madrid in 1815 at the age of 58 .

family

In 1796, Nordenflycht married María Josefa Cortés y Azua. She came from an important Chilean family and was a direct descendant of Hernán Cortés . This marriage had nine children, including:

  • Constanza Nordenflycht y Cortés (* 1808)
  • Dionisio Eugenio Nordenflycht y Cortés (born October 9, 1804)
  • Ludomilia de Nordenflycht y Cortés de Azúa ⚭ 1839 Gregorio Escardó y Saravia (1812–1888)

literature

  • Carlos Milla Batres: Enciclopedia Biográfica e Histórica del Perú. Vol. VII. Editorial Milla Batres, Lima 1994.
  • Hartmut Fröschle: The Germans in Latin America. Fate and achievement. Horst Erdemann Verlag, Tübingen / Basel 1979.
  • Renée Gicklhorn: Nordenflycht and the German miners in Peru. German publishing house for basic industry, Leipzig 1963.
  • Manuel Torres Marín: Los de Nordenflycht (Ensayo de Genealogia Descriptiva). Editorial Andrés Bello, Santiago de Chile 1986.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Expedition on the trail of the TU Bergakademie in South America
  2. ^ Georg Petersen, Hartmut Fröschle : The Germans in Peru . In: Hartmut Fröschle (ed.): The Germans in Latin America. Fate and achievement . Erdmann, Tübingen 1979, ISBN 3-7711-0293-6 , pp. 696-741, here p. 699.
  3. ^ A b c Georg Petersen, Hartmut Fröschle: The Germans in Peru . In: Hartmut Fröschle (ed.): The Germans in Latin America. Fate and achievement . Erdmann, Tübingen 1979, ISBN 3-7711-0293-6 , pp. 696-741, here p. 700.
personal data
SURNAME Nordenflycht, fear god Leberecht von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Nordenflycht, fear god Leberecht Freiherr von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German mining engineer
DATE OF BIRTH 1752
PLACE OF BIRTH Mitau
DATE OF DEATH 1815
Place of death Madrid